Russia Expresses Optimism for a Political Solution in Afghanistan

While Russia had increased the number of troops deployed in the maneuvers with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan on their border with Afghanistan at the point that it had become clear that the Taliban would take over all of Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has expressed cautious optimism that the transition to a new regime would occur peacefully. Noting the reports that the Afghan Vice President and Ahmad Massoud were preparing a resistance movement to the Taliban takeover, Lavrov said, “In a situation where all of Afghanistan was engulfed in civil war, we supported the necessity of an immediate transition to national dialogue with the participation of all opposing Afghan forces, of all ethno-religious Afghan groups, just like now, when the Taliban essentially took power in Kabul, in the majority of other cities, in the majority of Afghanistan’s provinces; we still support the same, national dialogue which will make it possible to shape a representative government, and then it, together with the support of the people of Afghanistan, will develop agreements on a final settlement for this long-suffering country,” he said.